- Chapter 1
- I came home from a business trip, tired and
- dusty, only to hear my four–year–old
- daughter say to my wife,
- “Mommy, I like Daddy Greg better. Can I go
- to the amusement park with him again next
- time?”
- Through the crack in the door, I saw my wife,
- who had always been cold towards me, ruffle
- my daughter’s nose and say with a smile,
- “Of course, sweetie. He’s your real dad.”
- Greg was my wife’s first love, her “white
- moonlight.”
- The paternity test results were in.
- I smoked several cigarettes, unable to bring
- myself to open the envelope.
- Until my secretary, Jason, knocked and came
- in, his brow furrowing at the strong smell of
- smoke in my office did I realize how out of
- <
- control I’d been.
- “Mr. Howard, we secured the Power Group
- project.”
- He held a thick stack of documents.
- I snapped back to reality. “Put it there, I’ll sign
- it later.”
- Jason nodded and left.
- I wiped my face and gently opened the
- paternity test report.
- The results showed that my daughter, Lily
- Howard, whom I’d loved for four years, wasn’t
- mine.
- The dust settled.
- I felt no anguish or sorrow, just a strange
- calm.
- Looking back, there were signs. Years ago,
- my usually cold wife, Jessica, surprisingly
- cooked a candlelit dinner.
- We drank aged red wine, and in the heat of
- the moment, I forgot protection.
- く
- But Jessica, who usually hated unprotected
- sex, didn’t blame me. Instead, she calmly said,
- “I’m in my safe period.”
- She even started to be gentler with me, which
- was shocking. More shocking was that she,
- who didn’t want children, got pregnant, and
- even volunteered to keep the baby.
- She had a difficult delivery.
- I vowed she would never suffer childbirth
- again, so I got a vasectomy.
- Now, I realize how foolish I was. Jessica knew
- who the father was.
- She only wanted to have her first love’s child.
- If I hadn’t come home early from my business
- trip last week and overheard my daughter’s
- innocent words about “two daddies,”
- I might still be in the dark.
- My story with Jessica was a typical wealthy family business arrangement.
- Her family’s company was in trouble, so they
- <
- sought help from my parents.
- The only difference was that I’d secretly loved
- Jessica for a long time. I also knew she didn’t
- love me; she had a first love, who’d gone
- abroad and with whom she’d broken up.
- She married me solely to solve her family’s
- urgent problems.
- After marriage, she remained cold towards
- me.
- I thought my sincerity would win her over.
- That with enough time, she’d feel my love.
- After Lily came along, we seemed closer.
- I thought I’d moved this “ice queen,” but
- reality slapped me hard.
- We’d been married for five years.
- Our daughter knew about her other father.
- Jessica watched coldly as she manipulated
- me.
- To her, I must have been a joke.
- My phone vibrated. A rare text from Jessica:
- [“Su Yang said you’re back from your trip.
- Why aren’t you home? Lily’s been asking for
- her daddy.“]
- A wry smile touched my lips.
- I came home last week hoping to surprise
- them, but the surprise was on me.
- No man can immediately calm down after
- this, and I didn’t want to argue with Jessica in
- front of Lily.
- So I secretly moved to an apartment closer to
- the office.
- A week had passed, and only now did she
- notice I was back from my trip? But that
- night, despite my anger, I still texted her.
- I told her I’d be busy lately and that the
- apartment near the office was more
- convenient.
- Jessica didn’t see the message.
- Or maybe she saw the notification, but just
- swiped it away without reading.
- At this point, I felt incredibly tired. Was it my
- fault for forcing feelings in this business
- marriage?
- I didn’t reply to Jessica.
- She had little patience with me. Seeing my
- silence, she called.
- The phone connected, and she immediately
- started questioning me:
- “Henry, didn’t you see my message?”
- “Sorry, I was working late.”
- “Working late? Do you remember you have a
- family? Lily keeps asking for her dad! Is this
- how you treat your daughter?”
- I was silent.
- I also wanted to ask Jessica.
- Did she remember she had a family, did she remember that Lily was someone else’s child? But looking at the family photo on my desk, I held back.
- “Lily’s sick. She wants pastries from Happy
- く
- Days, go get them and bring them to the
- hospital.”
- She coldly dropped the words and hung up.
- Then she sent a location pin.
- Thinking of Lily’s adorable face and how she
- calls me “Daddy,” I softened.
- After all, she’s the daughter I raised.
- I drove to Happy Days, bought Lily’s favorite
- custard buns and chicken feet, and rushed to
- the hospital.
- I reached the ward door.
- Lily’s clear voice came from inside.
- “Daddy Greg, I was so brave today; I took my
- medicine and got my shots!”
- I paused, peering inside. A young man in a
- white coat smiled gently – Greg, Jessica’s
- first love.
- He affectionately ruffled Lily’s head:
